My Military System

Chapter 5. System Mission.

Click!

Bryan walked into the Major General's office and saluted.

“Sir! You sent for me Sir!”

Major General Bourne seemed to be in his late-forties, with a bald hair and a Caesar's moustache. The man gestured to the chair in front of him for Bryan to sit.

“I was told by Command Sergeant Major Cutthroat of your achievement. I must say I am impressed.” the man spoke with a smile on his face. His voice was a bit identical to that of Command Sergeant Major Cutthroat, except for the ferocity part.

“Thank you Sir, I was merely doing my duty.” Bryan replied with a humble expression on his face.

“Oh no son, what you did is what no one else was willing to do. You chose to face more than two hundred RBO soldiers alone, just so you could make sure your teammates survived. Now that's commendable, but what got my attention is this report here made by your commanding officer.” he said while tapping on the file on his desk.

“You took out a kill count of more than a hundred RBO soldiers alone. Now if I didn't know any better, I would have believed you're a fictional super soldier. But I saw you during training period and I know very well you were not capable. So it's either Command Sergeant Major Cutthroat exaggerated all these, which I'm sure he did not, or you've been hiding something from us.” The Major General said with a serious expression as he probed Bryan.

Bryan kept his face as stoic as he could.

“Sir! With all due respect, I believe that Major Cutthroat exaggerated a lot. I am only but a private with no extensional training whatsoever. And doesn't it seem a bit off to you that I defeated more than a hundred RBO soldiers?” Bryan replied as he did his best to keep his face as expressionless as possible.

Major General Bourne smiled. He had already expected this outcome. He knew very well that Command Sergeant Major Cutthroat was a no bullshit man, and if he said Private Bryan Grayson took out more than a hundred RBO soldiers in a classic John Wick style, then that's what happened. He also knew that the boy in front of him would not come clean of that fact, but he didn't press on the matter.

“Perhaps he did. You're dismissed!” he said while waving his hand as if he was now disinterested in the topic.

“Yes Sir!” Bryan stood, saluted him and walked out of the office.

Bryan didn't have time to think about what had just transpired, to him he had to keep the system a secret. He walked into the locker room. Ever since he returned from the mission, his teammates seemed to have distanced themselves from him, and even the bullying stopped.

“Private Grayson!” a deep husky voice Bryan knew so well, called out to him.

“Sir!” Bryan stood erect and saluted Major Cutthroat.

“At ease soldier.”

The Major looked at Bryan for a while then sighed.

“I really don't know why you're being so secretive, but I hope it's for the betterment of our country. I won't pry on your matters..” Major Cutthroat was about to go into one of his speeches when a soldier stepped into the locker room. Upon seeing the Major, the soldier walked over and saluted.

“Sir! The Delta Squad has returned Sir! Lieutenant Colonel Durke has requested for your presence at the training field Sir!” the soldier, who seemed to be of Private First Class rank, a rank two twice higher than that of Bryan continued.

“Hmph! They're back? What does he want to do this time, gloat?" Major Cutthroat said with resentment as he followed the soldier, but just as he was about to pass through the door, he had a crazy idea. He turned back towards Bryan.

“Private Bryan! Follow me to meet the Lieutenant Colonel!” he ordered.

“Yes Sir!” Bryan replied even though he could not fathom the reason why the Major invited him along, but from what he gathered just now, it seemed that Major Cutthroat and the Lieutenant Colonel were some kind of rivals. Well, he will always support the Major since Major Cutthroat is in fact his commanding officer.

                     *

Major Cutthroat and Bryan walked towards a team of burly men smartly dressed in the standard Alorean Nation uniform which was just a blue colored tight spandex.. not to tight so as to enable flexibility. A man in his mid-thirties stood in front of this team as they all did various exercises on the field.

“Lieutenant Colonel! You sent for me!?” Major Cutthroat asked the man. Even though he had his misgivings about the Lieutenant Colonel, he still had to respect him as his rank was far lower than the man in front of him.

“Oh there's the chap I was just looking for." The man spoke in friendly way but everyone could sense the understating tone he used. It was apparent to all that he looked down on Major Cutthroat a lot.

“What do you need me for?” Major Cutthroat changed the way he was addressing the man. He could handle many things but never disrespect.

“Why, I was just surprised you didn't come out to welcome me. Were you not briefed of my mission to Port Urian? Or did you think I was out fighting mock battles like you and your team of toy soldiers?” Lieutenant Colonel Durke questioned with a feigned surprise on his face.

“Toy.. Lieutenant Colonel Durke, I will advise you to desist from such words.” Major Cutthroat said with so much anger bubbling in him. His words made the Lt colonel frown. Lieutenant Colonel Durke then turned around to his team who were still doing jumping jacks vigorously.

“TEN HUTTS!” He shouted in an authoritative tone. Immediately they all stopped whatsoever they were doing, then ran up and stood in front of him in neat formed line. He smiled and turned to the Major as if showing off his team.

“Major Cutthroat here seems to think that you boys are not good enough, and are comparable or even below his sissy team.” his words was laced with mockery, and although the rows of men and women who stood erect weren't murmuring, their creased brows showed the fact that they were clearly displeased.

“I never said..” Major Cutthroat tried to clarify the situation but was cut off by the Lieutenant Colonel.

“Denying? Are you then trying to call me a liar?” Lieutenant Colonel Durke said with a feigned displeased expression on his face. If one didn't know any better, they will be against Major Cutthroat for trying to make his superior look bad in front of the juniors.

“No.. that's not..” Major Cutthroat stuttered. Bryan was surprised as this was the first time he had seen his commanding officer behave this way. He knew very well that the Lieutenant Colonel was the one baiting Major Cutthroat while still acting as the victim. This made anger to boil in Bryan's heart as it reminded him of the scheming Houstons.

“How about we test that theory? It's a good thing you brought one of your toy soldiers. Let's see how good they really are.” Lieutenant Colonel Durke said with a smile on his face. This was his chance to humiliate Major Cutthroat, he could not let this opportunity slip.

Just as Major Cutthroat was thinking of what to do in order to get out of this situation, Bryan on the other side had just received a mission from the system.

«Ding!

New quest: Defeat six opponents in an overwhelming duel.

Reward: Thirty contribution points per person.

Penalty: Nil» the system's robotic voice sounded in Bryan's mind. His lips curved up in a smile which was noticed by the Lieutenant Colonel.

Before Major Cutthroat could affirm or reject the challenge, he saw Bryan walking out to the front. He was then reminded of the scene of the battle.

'Oh my! How could I forget! I have the super soldier with me and I'm fretting!'

Bryan stood in front of Major Cutthroat, facing him, he saluted the man.

“Private Grayson requesting permission to participate in this duel! Sir!” Bryan said with confidence. He saw his commanding officer's face lit up in smiles.

“Hahahaha! Yes, yes.. go give em hell my boy! Hahahahah!” he could not help but be so happy. He could not wait to see the shock on the Lt colonel's face when Bryan performs his miracle.